Florence, Italy
We’ve read that no two European cities are alike, save for excellent architecture, perhaps. We experienced it first hand in Florence, the first Italian city on our itinerary. After the Italian leg of our trip, we could confidently conclude that Italy was good looking, but crowded. Really crowded. Especially Rome and Venice. But Crowded or not, Florence is beautiful.
Beautiful marble facade of Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore
Ponte Vecchio, the oldest bridge in Florence, is lined with jewellery shops on both the sides
A part of the 1-km long Vasari Corridor leading to Ponte Vecchio
Padlocks on Ponte Vecchio — not a good thing to do!
Food makes us happier than architecture. And Florence gave us a fair share of gastronomic happiness! We had the best panino (sandwich) here. While strolling in the city to find a nice place for lunch, we saw a long queue outside All’Antico Vinaio. It didn’t look like we would get inside without waiting too long. We were in half minds (and very hungry) to stay but decided otherwise and chose to eat at a restaurant from our little travel diary.
We settled for another local favourite, Trattoria Anita (drooling and being nostalgic at the same time). That’s where we tried a typical Florentine trippa dish (tripe or stomach) among other mouthwatering delicacies. Now tripe is not everyone's cup of tea and it does take some getting used to. We're not fans, but we would want to try another tripe dish before saying "no" to it forever!
Heavenly lasagna at Trattoria Anita
Curiosity made us go back to the sandwich place in the evening, and there was, you guessed it, still a line of hopefuls. But the 30-minute wait was totally worth it. The first bite into the panino and we knew why this simple osteria (restaurant) is so popular with the locals. The huge sandwich was just €5, and we were already quarter full for dinner.
Remembered to click the panino after taking a lot of bites!
When in Italy, eat gelato! We gave into the temptation created by the swirls of creamy colours and the curiosity to try this world-famous Italian dessert. Where? At Perché No (which translates to “why not”), a tiny gelataria selling delicious homemade gelato. We tried ginger and mocha flavours, and boy were they good. WHY NOT would anyone want to eat some of that creamy goodness that melts into nothingness!
Dreamy while eating the creamy ginger gelato
More of Florence in pictures in this slideshow:
